1. (A) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the nominees in a party primary or party convention held under the provisions of this title by any political party certified by the commission for one or more of the offices, national, state, circuit, multi-county district, countywide, less than countywide, or municipal to be voted on in the general election, held on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November, must be placed upon the appropriate ballot for the election as candidates nominated by the party by the authority charged by law with preparing the ballot if the names of the nominees are certified, in writing, by the political party chairman, vice-chairman, or secretary to the authority, for general elections held under Section 7-13-10, not later than twelve o'clock noon on August fifteenth or, if August fifteenth falls on Saturday or Sunday, not later than twelve o'clock noon on the following Monday; and for a special or municipal general election, by at least twelve o'clock noon on the sixtieth day prior to the date of holding the election, or if the sixtieth day falls on Sunday, by twelve o'clock noon on the following Monday. Political parties nominating candidates by primary or convention must verify the qualifications of those candidates prior to certification to the authority charged by law with preparing the ballot. The written certification required by this section must contain a statement that each candidate certified meets, or will meet by the time of the general election, or as otherwise required by law, the qualifications for the office for which he has filed. Any candidate who does not, or will not by the time of the general election, or as otherwise required by law, meet the qualifications for the office for which he has filed shall not be nominated and certified, and such candidate's name shall not be placed on a general, special, or municipal election ballot.
2. (B) Candidates for President and Vice President must be certified not later than twelve o'clock noon on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in September to the State Election Commission.

HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 23-400.15; 1952 Code Section 23-312; 1950 (46) 2059; 1958 (50) 1860; 1959 (51) 285; 1966 (54) 2340; 1968 (55) 2316; 1974 (58) 2866; 1976 Act No. 644; 1984 Act No. 263, Section 3, eff January 27, 1984; 1984 Act No. 405, Section 1, eff May 24, 1984; 1986 Act No. 344, Section 1, eff March 7, 1986; 1998 Act No. 412, Section 5, eff June 9, 1998; 2000 Act No. 236, Section 6, eff March 7, 2000; 2000 Act No. 392, Section 3, eff August 1, 2000; 2003 Act No. 3, Section 3, eff upon approval (became law without the Governor's signature on January 16, 2003); 2015 Act No. 79 (H.3154), Section 1, eff June 11, 2015.

Editor's Note

1992 Act No. 289, Section 7 effective March 12, 1992 reads as follows:

"SECTION 7. For elections held in 1992 only, if run-off primary elections are necessary they must be held on September 8, 1992. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 7-13-350, Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, the results of all elections must be certified to the appropriate state or county election commissioners by 12:00 noon on September 18, 1992."

1997 Act No. 1, Section 6, eff February 12, 1997, provides as follows:

"SECTION 6. For purposes of the 1997 election for the members of the House of Representatives to be elected from those election districts revised by the provisions of Section 2-1-25 of the 1976 Code, as amended by Section 1 of this act, and for the members of the Senate to be elected from those election districts revised by Section 4 of this act, the following provisions apply:

"(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 7-11-15 of the 1976 Code, the dates for filing for all candidates seeking nomination by a political party primary or political party convention are between noon on June second and noon on June sixteenth.

"(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 7-11-210 of the 1976 Code, the date for filing the notice of candidacy and pledge is by noon on June sixteenth.

"(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 7-13-40 of the 1976 Code, certification of the names of all candidates to be placed on primary ballots must be made by the political party chairman, vice chairman, or secretary to the State Election Commission or the county election commission, whichever is responsible under law for preparing the ballot, not later than noon on June eighteenth.

"(4) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 7-13-40 of the 1976 Code, the date for primary elections is the second Tuesday in August.

"(5) For these elections held in 1997 only, if run-off primary elections are necessary they must be held on August twenty-sixth.

"(6) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 7-13-351 of the 1976 Code, all candidates seeking nomination by petition must file these petitions with the State Election Commission no later than noon on September ninth.

"(7) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 7-13-350 of the 1976 Code, the names of all nominees to be placed on the special election ballots must be certified by the respective political party to the appropriate election commissioners by noon on September eleventh."

Effect of Amendment

The 1976 amendment added the provision that certification of names be "by the political party chairman, vice-chairman or secretary in the case of a party candidate and by the person authorized to receive a petition when the candidate is not a party nominee," and substituted "thirtieth day" for "forty-fifth day" in the two places that it appears in regard to special and municipal elections.

The first 1984 amendment deleted references to nominees by petition.

The second 1984 amendment added the provision pertaining to special or municipal elections and substituted "must" or "shall" in the first sentence.

The 1986 amendment substituted "countywide, or less than countywide," for "or county" and made grammatical changes.

The 1998 amendment added "or municipal" and ", held on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November," substituted "forty-fifth" for "thirtieth", in two places, and made nonsubstantive changes throughout the section.

The first 2000 amendment (by Act No. 236) rewrote this section.

The second 2000 amendment (by Act No. 392) designated the existing section as subsection (A), added at the beginning of new subsection (A), "Except as otherwise provided in this section," and added subsection (B).

The 2003 amendment, in subsection (B), substituted "September tenth" for "August thirtieth".

2015 Act No. 79, Section 1, in (B), substituted "the first Tuesday following the first Monday in September to the State Election Commission" for "September tenth to the State Election Commission, or if September tenth falls on Sunday, not later than twelve o'clock noon on the following Monday".